Heater.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER FRANCIS MOOAFFREY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR,

BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE UNION BURNER COM- PANY AND HENRYPURINTON, OF SAME PLACE, AND E. E. FREDERICK,

OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

HEATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 637,887, datedNovember 28, 1899.

Application filed July 1 5 1 89 8.

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, PETER FRANCIS M cCAF- FREY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Heater, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to water-heaters designed for domestic andanalogous use; and the object in view is'to provide a simple, compact,and efficient heating device wherein water is employed as a medium, theparts being so disposed as to insure the prompt heating of the mediumand preferably the raising thereof to the desired temperature as itpasses through a continuous coil, forming one member of the heater.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a heater constructedin accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section ofthe same. Fig. 3 is avertical sectiontaken in a plane perpendicular tothat of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of a portion of theheater, showing a slightlymodified cross-sectional construction ofconveyer. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of the modified constructionof conveyer shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 5 is an end view of the heatingdevices, showing a battery of coils, the casing being omitted.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the draw- 1ngs.

Arranged within a suitable casing 1, which may be provided in one sidewall with a door 2 to give access to the interior, is a coiled retort orconveyer 3, supported upon a base 20 and consisting of a continuous tubehaving communication at one end with an inlet 4 and at the opposite endwith an outlet 5, said outlet being suitably valved to control the flowof water.

The coil constituting the retort is preferably arranged in a verticalposition, with all Serial No. 686,045. (No model.)

of the folds of the pipe in a common vertical plane, and upon oppositesides of the plane of the retort are arranged burners coextensive withthe retort and having burner-openings spaced at small intervalsthroughout their surfaces. In an approved construction of the device theburners 6 consistof metallic boxes fixed to the base 20 and incommunication with a gas-inlet 7, the front or inner walls of said boxesconsisting of refractory plates 8, of asbestos or like material, saidplates being parallel with and contiguous to the plane of the retort andhaving the above-mentioned burner openings or orifices, through whichgas contained in the boxes of the burners may escape, said orificesbeing disposed to project the gas horizontally, whereby the flamesstrike the coil at opposite sides and rapidly heat the contained water.This heating operation occurs with sufficient rapidity in practice toheat Water to the desired temperature in passing from the inlet to theoutlet, whereby with a moderate expenditure of fuel a continuous flow ofheated water may be obtained.

In Fig. 1 I have shown a valve mechanism 9, which is common to the Waterand gas inlets, and in practice it is preferable to employ a valvemechanism wherein the gas-inlet is controlled by the water-inlet and maybe regulated to correspond in so far as the rapidity of admission of thefluids therethrough is concerned; but as the valve which I prefer toemploy and which is indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 1 forms no partof my present invention I have deemed it unnecessary to furtherillustrate the same.

In Figs. 1 to 3 I have shown a retort constructed of cross-sectionallyround tubing; but it is obvious that variations in this feature ofconstruction may be made in orderto modify the extent of exposure of thetubesurfaces to the flames of the burners. For instance, in Figs. 4 and4:? I have shown a portion of a conveyer constructed of flattenedtubing, wherein the side surfaces which are exposed to the heat from theburners are increased to correspondingly diminish the horizontal depthof the conveyers or the distance between the opposite sides thereof. Inthis way the retort conveys the water in the form of a narrow ribbon orfilm, which is quickly heated by the means hereinbefore described in itspassage from one end of the coil to the other. Also, it will beunderstood that when heaters of larger capacity are required the samefacility of heating the water may be maintained with an increasedcapacity by duplicating the retorts or arranging them in a batterywithin a single casing, as indicated in Fig. 5. In this case the outerburners are constructed exactly as hereinbefore described be understoodthat two ormore fiat coils, such as those illustrated, may be employed,as one for each burner arranged side by side and close together, sothateach coil is exposed to the heat of both burners. The Water-heaterherein described as being adapted to raise the temperature of the wateras it passes through the continuous coil thereof may be connected in anydesired manner with a continuous supply of water. Also, various otherchanges in the form, proportion, and the minor details of constructionmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing anyof the ad vantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is' In a water-heater, thecombination with a base, of a retort fixed thereto, consisting of acontinuous coiled tubular conveyer or waterpassage adapted for thecontinuous passage therethrough of the water to be heated, theconvolutions of the coil lying in a single vertical plane, fiat-facedburners fixed to the base and arranged at opposite sides of and parallelwith the retort, each burner con sisting of a metallic bog; havingflanged side Walls, a refractory face-plate of asbestos se cured at itsedges to the flanges of said walls and provided with burner-perforationsadapted to discharge flame against opposite sides of the conveyer, and acasing inclosing the coil and burners and their base.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

PETER FRANCIS MOOAFFREY. Witnesses:

JOHN H. SIGGERS, FRANCES PEYTON SMITH.

